Obama calls for 'meaningful' action after school shooting

Updated
December 17, 2012 08:28:00

After the murder of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut American gun laws are once again the subject of much debate. As Americans grieve over what's happened the US president Barack Obama has called for 'meaningful' action, but has the United States reached a tipping point where people are prepared to accept changes to gun laws?

TONY EASTLEY: The horror of the school shooting in the US isn't likely to disappear soon. There are investigations and funerals to be held, memorials to be attended to.

And there is too the arguments over gun ownership and the control of powerful, military style rifles that are so easily available to the American public.

Even as the overwhelming grief continues Americans are looking to buy guns as Christmas presents this festive season and the sort of assault rifle used by the young killer in Connecticut is available over the counter.

Jane Cowan is our North America correspondent.

Jane, good morning. How is the town coping with what's happened? It must be so hard for people to try and return their lives to some sort of normality when this horror is of course so fresh in their minds?

JANE COWAN: Well Tony right now here in Newtown there is no normal. This is a town in mourning. It's the first Sunday since the shooting that instead of celebrating the week before Christmas, the church services here have become memorials for those killed.

Families are preparing to bury their loved ones, the first funeral will be tomorrow for a six year old. and really a cloud has been thrown over the entire festive season. There are Christmas trees in the streets but now there's one for each of the 26 people killed.

There are multiple shrines, just spontaneous shrines springing up throughout town, people constantly streaming to light candles and leave notes as well as teddy bears for the children. There were, I saw six apples - one for each of the teachers killed. And really now the ripples of grief are just spreading throughout this entire community.

VOX POP 1: It's just so heartbreaking to see the families and these kids, so close to the holiday. We brung some stuffed animals to hand out to some of the kids, hopefully bring them a little bit of comfort.

VOX POP 2: To come up here, you know, you never think anything like this would happen anywhere, anywhere. You know, you hear of shootings which is extremely bad and then for children, you know, it's like why, why children? I mean why does it have to be, why does it have to be anyone? But I mean, but children, you've just got to be demented.

JANE COWAN: What role does gun control have?

VOX POP 2: Well, I think it's, you know, gun control, you know, instead of working on gun control they should (inaudible) about protecting others. Maybe there could be something with gun control but even if there is, they are going to find ways of getting guns.

VOX POP 3: It's a shame too that Newtown and Sandy Hook are going to now be known for this because this is a beautiful town unto itself and hopefully everyone can move on from this. It's going to be difficult.

In the past America's interest in gun control, even after shocking tragedies like this one, has been fleeting.

After the murder of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut, American gun laws are once again the subject of much debate.

As Americans grieve over what's happened the US president Barack Obama has called for "meaningful" action, but has the United States reached a tipping point where people are prepared to accept changes to gun laws?

From Washington, here's Kim Landers.

KIM LANDERS: In Newtown a mix of snow and freezing rain greeted worshippers who flocked to churches to mourn the victims.

All the children were six or seven years old, all in grade one, all shot multiple times.

The emotion is reviving a debate about whether stricter gun laws could prevent such an unimaginable killing.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says the president must act.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: This should be his number one agenda. He is the president of the United States and if he does nothing during his second term something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns. That is roughly the number of Americans killed in the whole Vietnam War.

KIM LANDERS: Barack Obama has already called for "meaningful action" but he hasn't given specifics. One Democratic senator is planning to revive her plan to ban new assault weapons. Two others, including Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, are calling for a national commission on mass violence.

JOE LIEBERMAN: To make sure that the heartbreak and the anger that we feel now is not dissipated over time or lost in legislative gridlock, I've got to tell you, this reminds me of the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks against us of 9/11.

KIM LANDERS: But others like Republican congressman Louie Gohmert wish the school principal had had a weapon of her own.

LOUIE GOHMERT: I wish to God she had had an M4 in her office locked up so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and she didn't have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.

KIM LANDERS: The statistics about guns are staggering. Americans bought two million guns last month alone. An estimated 200 million weapons are already in circulation.

There are more registered gun dealers and gun stores than major supermarkets. The weapons used by this 20 year old gunman were bought legally by his mother.

But could this tragedy still be a tipping point?

The president doesn't have to be re-elected so perhaps he can take on this political fight. When Barack Obama first ran for office he campaigned for more gun controls but mayor Bloomberg, who's the co-chairman of the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is scathing about the president's lack of action.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: And the only gun legislation that the president has signed since then, one is the right to carry a gun in national parks where our kids play and one is to right to carry guns on Amtrak. I assume that's to stop the rash of train robberies which stopped back in the 1800s.

KIM LANDERS: The White House says the president remains committed to an assault weapons ban.

Later today Barack Obama will visit the families of the victims in Newtown and he'll speak at a church service.

It's the president's fourth trip to grief stricken towns. The last was in July after 12 people were killed in a Colorado movie theatre.